Cloth Diapering Part Uno- Why we use cloth

If someone would have told me 2 years ago that I'd be cloth diapering my son I'd say they were crazy. You see, when I thought about cloth diapers the image of white cloths and safety pins came to mind. Or using a diaper service; which I thought would be way too expensive. But, then I stumbled upon a cloth diapering message board while on The Bump and started doing some research. All the ladies on that message board seemed to really love cloth diapering and preached about how much money they saved, how easy it was, and how bad disposable diapers are for the environment. All of that in addition to the pictures of their uber cute babies wearing cloth made me want to do more research about using them. 

There are several different ways to go when thinking about using cloth diapers, and I became a little overwhelmed at times. So, I want to share with you what I've learned, what I use, how I do it, and why I love cloth diapering Harrison. The reasons we use cloth are pretty simple; 

1. Cost savings 
2. More environmentally friendly
3. They're really cute

Cost savings was the first thing that made me want to cloth diaper. At first it seemed expensive, and; in all honesty, it is more expensive at first. But, they will pay for themselves rather quickly. In my search to figure out exactly how much I'd be spending I found out about a website that allows you to calculate how much using cloth will cost you including electricity (to wash/dry), detergent, water, and everything else you need to get started. It compares this cost to how much disposables will cost you until your little one is potty trained (Up to $3,000. What?!), and shows you how long it will take for your investment to pay for itself. This site really put things into perspective, and it wasn't long before I was researching different brands, styles, and all the supplies I would need.

Since there are so many different types and brands of cloth diapers (which I'll talk about in part dos) there is a wide range of what you can expect to spend. How many diapers you want  in your stash will also determine the cost. I want to do wash ever other or every two days, so I have 22 diapers. This is a comfortable amount for me, but I will probably add to my stash in order to try new things as they come out. 

My cost: I was lucky enough to receive a little more than half my stash as a gift (thank you, Mom!), so my out of pocket cost- not including water and electricity costs- was only about $150 and that includes 10ish diapers, two wet bags (will explain later), and two containers of cloth diaper friendly diaper rash cream. If I had to guess I would say that my entire stash cost about $400, and that is probably a high estimate. Obviously $400 is a lot better than spending up to $3,000 for diapers for one baby. It's easy to see how using disposables is literally like throwing money in the trash.

Cost was how I sold Anthony on the idea but environmental benefits was another selling point for me. As Anthony put it, "I don't care enough about the environment to wash poopy diapers unless is saves me money". Never mind that Anthony has yet to actually wash a diaper. ;) I'm not going to bore you with all the reasons why disposables are bad for environment. And, frankly, I don't know every way they are harmful. But, this is what I do know; a lot of oil is used to make disposables and they take an incredibly long time to break down in landfills. Here is a good article about how long diapers sit in landfills. And, in the interest of full disclosure, it also talks about how cloth diapers aren't completely environmentally friendly. 

Cute factor is an admittedly vain reason to use cloth. But, a lot of baby things involve vanity. How else do you explain those incredibly adorable pink, fluffy baby tutus? To properly illustrate just how cute cloth diapers are it is imperative that you see Harrison's fluffy butt! :)

He's about 3 months here.

Oh. My. Gawd. He is so little in this picture